Buckle.



Patented Apr. I6, mol.

No. 672,3965' v S. P. GIBBUNS.

B U C K L E.

fApplintion led Dec. 22` 1.900.;

(No Medef.)

tra *tarifs attivit miren.

STEPHEN PERCY GIBBONS, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

BUCKLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 672,396, dated April 16, 1901.

Application led December 22, 1900. Serial No. 40,796. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern,.-

Be it known that I, STEPHEN PERCY GIB- BONS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Baltimore, State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Buckles, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in buckles, and more particularly tov garmentbuckles, in which the buckle is attached to or carried by a suitable web used for supporting some garment.

My object is to provide an improved buckle of this character which will be simple and economical in manufacture and effective for the performance of its intended function and which is especially applicable to Suspenders.

The principal objects of my invention are to so construct the buckle that the use of Vstitching or other independent attaching means in securing the web to the buckle may be avoided, to so dispose the web with respect to the buckle that said buckle may be prevented from contact with the shirt or other garment, thereby avoiding any metallic contact with the shirt or any contact of the hard substance of which the buckle may be formed with said garment, and to cause the web on both sides to present a flat or substantially flat surface, thereby contributing to neatness and to the comfort of the wearer.

My further object is to provide a buckle that will be readily adjustable and in which no sharp points or surfaces are required to hold the buckle in its position of attachment on the web.

With these objects in view my invention consists in the construction of buckle and the combination of parts, as hereinafter described, with reference to the accompanying drawings, and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure] illustrates a per specti ve View of the buckle as applied to the web of Suspenders. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section thereof, showing the manner of attachment of said buckle to the web. Fig. 3 is a view of the buckle detached. Figs. 4 and 5 are modifications of the buckle.

Referring now to the drawings, in which the same reference characters relate to the same or corresponding parts in all the views, the buckle l is preferably made, as shown in Fig. 3, of one piece of metal or other suitable material, and consists of a central body portion 2, above which is formed a transverse slot 3, bounded by a cross-bar 4, in the same plane with the body. At the opposite sides of the slot the material is preferably so turned as to form lateral flanges 5, and below the central body portion 2 is a cross-bar G, preferably struck up from the metal, thus forminga slot 7, lying directly underneath said cross-bar and bounded by a transverse bar 8, which is preferably integral with the body portion of the buckle, as shown, and may, if desired, be formed of a separate piece and secured to the body portion of a buckle by brazing or otherwise. This cross-bar 6 maybe, if desired, extended below the lower portion of the buckle either for securing a wider bearing-surface or for ornamentation, or both, as desired. In such case it is preferably formed as shown in Fig. a, where the bar 6 is shown as extending downwardly and terminates in an ornamental line, the surface of which bar may of course be ornamented. The crossbar 8 may be omitted, but it is preferable to retain this bar in the form shown in Fig. 3.

The portion of the material below the slot 7, forming the sides of the metal opposite the cross-bar 6, is preferably so turned as to form lateral flanges 9. Instead of having the crossbar 6 project outwardly from the front of the buckle it may project to the rear, as shown in Fig. 5. In all cases, however, it will be observed that the slot 7 ,formed by the said crossbar 6, extends in a different plane from the plane of the body portion and preferably in a plane substantially at right angles to the plane of said body portion, so that the web when passed through the slot is caused to present a fiat surface both front and back.

On the body of the buckle I preferably provide angular spurs IO for the purpose of securing and permanently fixing the end of the web, but these spurs are not essential, although preferable, as they afford a convenient and ready means for holding the end of the web when it is first inserted while the remaining portion is being rove through the slots in the buckle.

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With a buckle made as shown the web is applied as follows: The end 11 to be permanently fixed to the buckle is passed down through the slot 3, over the central body 2, thence through the slot 7, said end being pressed in contact with the teeth, a slight pull fixing the teeth in the web. The free end 12 is then'passed downwardly back of the body of the buckle, covering the same and overlying the end 11, thence upwardly underneath the cross-bar G, over the attached end, and thence through the slot 3 underneath the cross-bar 4, thus forming a loop 13, through which suitable straps, such as 14, may be passed, the end l2 constituting the body portion of the web,which passes over the shoulder:

or other supporting portion of the body of the wearer. It will thus be seen that the upper portion of the web, passing over the attached end 1l and under the cross-bar 6, firmly binds the said attached end into place on the body of the buckle, and the greater the strain on the portion l2 the firmer will the attached end 1l be held in place on the buckle, this pressure being sufficient to securely bind it into place without the spurs or other independent attaching means, although the spurs are preferable, as hereinbefore indicated. It will also be seen that the buckle can be readily adjusted up and down on the web by grasping the sides, the lateral flanges in such case forming a convenient grasp, and moving the buckle up and down on the web. By slightly pressing the buckle so as to draw the top outwardly from the web this adjustment may be facilitated. Furthermore, the webs in Suspenders, for eX- ample, may, if desired, be made of the same lengths and shortened readily by the user by simply pulling the end 1l through the buckle the distance desired and cutting off the surplus length.

It should be observed that the slot 3 is made wide enough to permit two thicknesses of web to pass therethrough and that the space between the cross-bar 6 and the body of the buckle is such as to cause an amount of friction upon the web as to insure the latter exerting sufficient pressure upon the attached end lll in order to properly confine the same in fixed'relation to the buckle, and the manner in which the web is rove, being permitted by the peculiar construction of my improved buckle, contributes to this end. It should also be observed that the central body portion 2 of my improved buckle is without a slot, or, in other words, is imperforate, by which term I mean that there is no opening or slot in said central body portion through which any portion of the web can be passed, so that there are only two slots, one on each side of the central body portion, arranged in relation thereto as hereinbefore described.

I am aware that buckles have been proposed in which, broadly speaking, the web is so related to the buckle as to cover the same at the back or that side next to the garment, and I am also aware that it has been attempted to dispense with independent attaching means in certain forms of buckles, and therefore I do not claim such constructions broadly; but

What I do claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the'United States, is

l. As a new article of manufacture, the herein-described improvement in buckles, comprising a buckle having an impert'orate central body portion, a single slot on one side of, and in the same plane with, said central body portion, and of s'nflicient width to confine a plural thickness of web, a cross-bar on the other side of said central body portion and above the plane of the body portion and forming'a single slot in a plane substantially at right angles to the plane of the body portion, said cross-bar being at such distance above the plane of the body portion as to bear upon the web passing beneath the same with sufficient pressure to confine an underlying portion of the web to the buckle, whereby the web may be passed through the slots so as to cover the buckle on one side and present substantially iiatsurfaces on both sides, substantially as described.

2. The combination with a buckle comprising a buckle having an imperforate'central body portion, a single slot on one side thereof in the same plane with the body portion and a single slot on the other side thereof ina plane substantially at right angles to the plane of said body portion, and a cross-bar above the plane of the body portion and at such distance therefrom as to bear with sufficient pressure upon the web beneath the same to confine an underlying portion of vthe web to the buckle, of a web having its end passed through one slot over the central body portion and through the other slot, thence back of the body portion and covering the buckle and end of attached web, thence upwardly underneath the cross-bar and through the slot on the opposite side of the central body por! STEPHEN PERCY GIBBONS.

Witnesses:

C. A. NEALE, M. E. DURAND.

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